March 8th marks International Women’s Day, and with this year’s theme set to be “#BalanceforBetter” we have taken a look at the Govt figures to understand the Gender Pay ‘balance’ a year on since Gender Pay Gap was first reported. The stats show that smaller employers are doing more to close the gender pay gap than larger companies. The female pound (the amount that women earn compared to men) is worth around 87.6p for women employed by SMEs for every £1 earned by men, compared…
December's not the best is it? You go to work in the dark. And come home in the dark. You’re dreading snow because – let’s face it – the country will grind to a halt. You’ve heard ‘I Wish it Could be Christmas Every Day’ eight times now. And no. You don’t. Because if it was Christmas every day, you’d be bankrupt. And probably quite bloated. The kids have already obliterated their advent calendars and your cat keeps fighting with the Christmas tree. Still, at least…
What’s with all our health and safety legislation? Where did it come from? Why do we have it? If you’ve never stopped to ask these questions about our current health and safety laws, read on. Years ago – long before we enjoyed the benefits of a health-and-safety-conscious UK – it’s highly likely you’d have risked your life at work every day. Particularly if you worked in a cotton mill. Forced to work long hours in horrific conditions workers would invariably get sick or contract a…
With only weeks to go until we leave the EU, it’s important to understand just how Brexit will affect health & safety. What’s going to happen? Which H&S regulations will be affected? How will it all affect your H&S team’s processes and procedures? What do you and your team need to do now in order to be compliant on the 1 April 2019? Read on for the answers – and take a deep breath because the good news is we don’t think too much is…
If you’re an HR Manager, you’re responsible for a long list of functions that are crucial to the success of the business you work for. From recruitment, to employee relations, learning and development, talent planning, compensation and benefits, change management – the list goes on and on. With so many plates to spin, where do you put your focus? A good place to start is answering the question: what makes a successful HR team? Ulrich’s take on it David Ulrich, often referred to as the…
The term ‘flexible working’ is becoming a popular one. But what actually is it? Who is doing it? How are requests made? And must you agree to a flexible working request? What is flexible working? Flexible working is a way of working that suits an employee’s needs. It might involve an earlier or later start and finish time to better suit the employee’s commitments outside of work. Or it might be working reduced hours and days, or working from home. Who is working flexibly? In…
Following our comprehensive walk through on harassment, we’re now looking specifically at workplace bullying. Read on to understand your responsibilities as an employer and find out how to proactively avoid and discourage workplace bullying. What is bullying? Although it’s not actually defined by law, ACAS characterises bullying as ‘offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, an abuse or misuse of power through means that undermine, humiliate, denigrate or injure the recipient’. Which laws govern workplace bullying? Workplace bullying is a complex area because there isn’t one…
If you're a business owner, manager, HR professional – or just generally curious about the risk you face from health & safety factors – you'll be interested in the story this new campaign is telling you. Business risk is a different slant on health & safety but it matters because, in 2016, the Government changed the sentencing guidelines for prosecuting health & safety breaches. As a result, businesses, business owners, directors and employees are receiving more and higher fines, with figures of £1m+ for bigger…
In March the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) published its paper on reforming workplace policies to support fathers balance their parental responsibilities and work – the take up (or lack of it) of shared paternity leave being the particular concern. As employer will be aware, the original two-week statutory paid paternity leave was introduced in 2003 followed by the legislatively cumbersome shared parental leave policy in 2015, which allows fathers to use the paid leave that would have otherwise been taken by the mother. Although…
In October, we announced Bain Capital Private Equity had entered into discussions with NGA Human Resources (our parent company) to acquire the NGA UK & Ireland and Moorepay businesses. The transaction was subject to some customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. These have now been satisfied and I’m pleased to announce that the deal completed on Wednesday 31 January. What this means for our customers As an independent company, we will focus fully on meeting the needs of the UK & Ireland markets and our…